Clear Coat Paint

[Bob_Roller]

Anyone have any idea when BMW started using a clear coat on their motorcycles ?

The paint on my '81 R65 looks just as good as the day I took it home back in January 1981, I was comparing it to my '91 Honda CRX cage which is a '91 and does not have a clear coat on it, and you can really tell the difference in aging, and both vehicles have been subjected to about the same conditions since I've owned them.

[Ed Miller]

As best I can tell, my '81 R65 does not have clear coat (it's black) whereas my '89 CRX, which is silver, does.  They both could use new paint jobs.  BMW obviously used very good quality paint, but my knees have been wearing it off the sides of my gas tank, down to primer in one place, and some of the pin striping has rubbed off.  My CRX just has a bunch of depressing little dings and chips from flung-up gravel.

I've heard some colors are more durable than others, but I don't remember which.